Two years in the making
by Josette Mynx
Summary: Jin, Fuu, and Mugen are reunited two years after their separation. And what brings them all together? Jins wedding of course! First Chapter Revised
1. Chance encounter

Revised Chapter

* * *

Fuu looked out the window of the carriage longingly. It had been almost two years since she had actually traveled anywhere for the most part, of course this time she was in much nicer accommodations. She and two other waitresses were traveling to the next town over. The woman who owned the tea house apparently had a brother in this next town who was hosting the wedding party for a couple in his restaurant.

Word was that the celebration would be huge. The owner of a local doujo and a kimono seamstress (who was rumored to be an incredibly kind and beautiful woman) were the two being married, Fuu hadn't had the chance to discover their names, though she figured it would be only a matter of time. The brother needed a couple helping hands for the special day and had sent out for extra workers. Fuu, to her own glee had been chosen. It was nice to get out after such a long time.

The view of the dirt road going by brought back memories. She could just see those two now. She wondered what they would think if they saw her? She had filled out finally, her figure becoming that of a woman's. She had hips and breasts, which she wasn't too shy about showing off. She didn't freak out if her kimono fell off her shoulder a bit here and there, though some elderly women would scowl a little. She was young and having fun. It didn't really matter anyway. She was already spoken for and she hardly ever got hit on by anyone. All the regulars knew who she was and the travelers soon found out.

Her hands fingered the edge of her sleeves. What would it be now? Two weeks? Yes, two weeks until her own wedding. She blushed inwardly. He was a nice boy. In fact he was the son of the owner of the tea house she worked at. She had met him only two months after she left that island, and six months later they began their little relationship. It had been nothing really. He was a sweet heart and he was incredibly kind to her. He had asked her to marry him about three months ago, and she had said yes. He was the kind of man who would make a great husband. He would always be there for her whenever she needed him.

Apparently he hadn't been there too much longer than she had. His mother and him had moved there a year or two before from a fishing village on the coast, which was apparent in his darker than natural skin and rough hands. When they had first began getting to know each other he would tell her stories about working the docks. His job had been to help the ships dock and unload, sending supplies to the necessary areas, but he had heard more than his fair share of stories about the sea. Other countries, precious jewels, pirates. It had all been interesting to her. Perhaps that was why she chose him out of all of the boys that had shown interest. He had kept her attention so easily.

Fuu's head popped up as the town started to grow in the distance, maybe seeing this ceremony would give her ideas about her own!

* * *

Mugen stretched slowly walking into the town. He had heard that there was a wedding ceremony going on, and where ever there were idiots getting shackled there was also lots of food, usually of the free sort. God, how long had it been since he had eaten? At least two days. The real question is how long had it been since he had eaten a decent meal, and that have been at least 4 months ago. He was out of money and irritable.

It had been a while since he had had a good lay. It had taken him a good couple of months to bring himself to screw a woman at all after what happened on the island. He would see those locks of hair laid out on his chest and all he could think about was Fuu laying over him and crying on that beach. That would always cause him to flinch. All thoughts of being hard went out the window when seeing all that blood flash across his eyes. Don't get him wrong, he liked a good fight, but that had been the one time he was on the verge of death and sure as hell wasn't willing to go.

Mugen ducked out of the way of a carriage heading straight for the center of the city. He supposed that's where he should be heading to as well, so he just followed the wake of the carriage into the town center.

He walked like some head strong rooster as he made his way through the crowd. People would stare at him from time to time but he was used to it. The tattoos and the scars already drew enough attention to him. Whispers always followed him where ever he went, children being pulled away. It suited him fine though. What did he care? He was proud of the tattoos. They were badges representing what he had been though. The three pale scars across his cheek made him look even more dangerous, but he liked to think of them as a harsh reminder. He would see them every time he looked at his face in the still water of a barrel or a lake. He won. It was the most difficult battle he had ever been in, but he sure as hell fucking won!

He gave off his classic smirk as he entered the center of the town. He could smell all of the food specifically coming from a restaurant nearby. The carriage he had seen earlier was stationed out front of it, its passengers having already emptied and gone inside. He would have to be patient and wait till the shackling was over, which made him want to gag.

How pussy whipped did you have to be to get attached to a nagging little bitch? How stupid did you have to be to think you needed someone screeching in your ear at all times? He was about to roll his eyes when he caught sight of the man dressed as the groom. Mugen thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head, and he tripped over his own getta clad feet hitting the ground with a crashing noise as he knocked over a bench.

* * *

Jin shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. This had probably been the first time he actually felt awkward. He was getting married to Shino. In only a few hours, he, Jin the loner, would be married. Sure he lived with her already but adding on that word to their relationship was territory he had never crossed. What scared him the most is that he was truly happy about it. He had never once pictured himself getting married in all of his life. He thought he would be dead by now really. But a year ago the hunting had stopped and he had actually been able to settle down.

He owned his own doujo now, which felt incredibly weird the more he thought about it. Most of his students were a few years younger than Fuu when he had first come in contact with the girl. Little men, who hadn't yet grown into their bodies, or really understood how they worked. There was something endearing about the awkward clumsiness to them. It was probably the reason why he had decided to continue teaching. Other than the fact he wanted to be survived by something.

He stepped out of the small inn and into the center of the town where their ceremony was to be held. He didn't understand it but something about Shino and himself had spoken to the town's people here. They took them in easily and they had become a vital part of the community. Shino had been elated when people wanted to help with the ceremony, and free of cost. The only thing they really had to pay for was the food and they still got a bit of a discount on that as well.

Jin couldn't think of a time when anyone had been so generous to him. Well maybe Fuu had been but one person and fifty people were really quite a different matter. He would have like to invite her to this ceremony but he hadn't seen her since they separated. It really was thanks to her than he and Shino met after all. If he hadn't been traveling with her he would have never stopped there.

Jin turned his head sharply at the sound of a crash, gripping the hilt of his sword, ready for any imminent danger. Today would be a day of firsts it seemed. Jin's stoic expression actually broke into one of shock for about three seconds before returning to normal. Jin walked over to a crumpled Mugen and stared down at him.

"Something wrong?"

* * *

Fuu and a few of the other girls rushed out of the restaurant at the loud crashing noise. To her utter shock, there before her stood Jin and Mugen. Well Mugen wasn't really standing, but he was there, right in front of her eyes.

"M-Mugen? J-Jin?" she could hardly spit the words out of her mouth as she stepped forward.

It didn't take her long to notice what Jin was wearing and realization smacked her in the face. Without even really thinking about it she skipped right over to the both of them and hugged Jin, and hard. She had missed the brotherly like figure. She pulled away and looked at Mugen, who from the looks of him had no idea about Jin getting married. It only took her a second to figure out why he was here. The prospect of free food.

* * *

Mugen didn't even get a chance to answer Jin's question before a flock of what were obviously waitresses rushed out of the restaurant. Most of them looked at him in fear, but one woman took a hesitant step forward and he heard his name tumble from her lips. It was the sound of her voice that sent Mugen through another dramatic state of shock. It was Fuu. She sure had filled out though.

The more he looked at her the more he saw her. Her face was basically the same, maybe a little more angular as she had lost some of the childish baby fat. It was just the body that threw him for a loop. When she bounced over and hugged Jin it confirmed it. Always glorifying the fish face. Mugen was just the flea ridden dog. He frowned slightly and picked himself up off the ground.

* * *

Jin was in the same sense of shock, though he didn't show it. The shock faded into happiness as he felt Fuu's arms hugging him though. He had missed the girl. Though he probably wouldn't voice it. Even on the day of his wedding he wasn't emotional enough to go spilling that kind of stuff. He didn't say anything. He only smiled slightly and gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

It didn't take him to long to notice that Mugen wasn't all too happy about Fuu hugging him. He had always supposed Mugen liked Fuu, and she had surely liked him, but nothing had ever been confirmed. Thefact was any act of jealousy could also be him feeling like he was insulted by not being put on the same level.

* * *

Fuu of course didn't notice any of this as she walked over to Mugen once he was up off the ground. She dusted him off quickly. She always did take care of him when she had traveled with him. After making sure he wasn't filthy she hugged him as well. Though the hug didn't last as long as the one she had given Jin.

She hadn't cared about Mugen in the same way she did Jin. Jin was her protective brother, Mugen was something different entirely and she couldn't let him know about how she had felt, how she still felt when she looked at him, she wasn't really sure she was ready to confront those emotions herself. She was getting married and that was that. She didn't have time to dream about the beautiful wild man who always came to her rescue as fast as he could, and just as fast could enter a verbal sparing match with her.

* * *

Mugen felt like slapping the little brat the entire time she was dusting him off, and he was about to lift his hand to do so when she had hugged him. He had to keep his concentration straight in front of him once he saw Fuu's chest squished up against his own. God it was cleavage heaven down there, the way he could see straight down the front of her kimono. He was almost relieved when she pulled away sooner than she had from fish face.

He could tell from the expression on Jin's face that he was laughing at him on the inside and all Mugen could do was glare at him. He wanted to yell. 'Ha ha laugh your fucking head off pansy! At least mines got boobs!' but at the same time he knew Fuu wasn't his to be saying that about. And he wasn't in the least bit going to admit that he had missed her like that. He wasn't going to admit that he missed her at all if he could get away with it.

* * *

Jin couldn't help want to laugh at Mugen's expression when Fuu was hugging him. Considering Jin had never felt attracted to Fuu, her breasts against him really hadn't fazed him. He had Shino for that kind of thing anyway he supposed. Even if they had bothered him he would have covered it up a whole lot better than Mugen was doing. He had looked down at Fuu when she hugged him, his eyes getting big for just a second before his head had popped up to stare intensely at a plank of wood not too far away. Jin only gave his eyes a mischievous look, before leading the two into a tea house across the open square.


	2. Sake Bath

Half Way Revised

* * *

Mugen couldn't help but feel his entire body twitch slightly when Fuu sat down across from him and next to Jin. Within seconds the waitress had already brought tea and sake to the table, causing Mugen to raise a brow. Jin had always been treated better than himself, but having waitresses cater to his every whim as soon as he walked through the door was pushing it.

Of course the guy was getting married but still, Mugen wanted to smack someone upside the head in his own jealousy. He knew he was jealous of Jin, he just wasn't going to admit that out loud any time soon. Mugen snatched up his cup of sake and took a big gulp after watching Fish face bring his own cup full of tea to his mouth.

"I'm so glad that I ran into you two!" Fuu was smiling that big happy smile and her voice practically chirped when she spoke. "Your wedding is giving me so many ideas for my wedding to Katsu! And I really wanted you guys to come, but I never knew where you were!"

At that both men spit out their drinks and looked at her in shock.

Jin didn't really know how to express the feeling that he was getting about little innocent Fuu getting married. Just the idea of her kissing a man seemed weird, let alone her participating in the wedding night. His already pale skin drained of any color it had and then it abruptly rushed back. Little innocent Fuu under a man, her kimono open, it wasn't exactly a pleasant visual for Jin. He forced himself to compose his mind and took a sip of his tea, and then focused on swallowing which took a little longer than it usually did.

Mugen on the other hand knew exactly how to express what he was feeling. Left behind, though that wasn't the feeling that was plastered on his face. In fact he was laughing. He could hardly breathe. Of course his mind had passed over the same thing Jin's had but Mugen's thoughts were very different. He was picturing Fuu nagging at the man she was marrying in the middle of sex. Yeah that would be like Fuu. She never could stop chatting, he doubted that she would do it then either.

Only a second later did his laughter stop, and quite abruptly. Fuu was getting married. Married! His chest twisted slightly. Thinking about her lying with some guy had started out as a joke, but the very sharp reality hit him as soon as the thought was finished.

He felt sick, and a little hurt. He knew it didn't make any sense but he still felt it. The image of Fuu standing on a porch with a baby in her arms and a man with no face standing beside her popped into Mugen's head and he abruptly grabbed his cup of sake and downed it. A frown plastered across his face.

Fuu, who just watched them, sighed softly before resting her chin on the palm of her hand, her elbow propped up on the table. She should have expected that kind of reaction. This was Jin and Mugen she was talking about. She turned her head to look at Jin who was whipping his glasses clean of sake that Mugen had spewed everywhere, including her own kimono.

"What am I not allowed to get married or something? I mean most girls my age are already married with kids. It's about time that I started a family." Her face had only been red for a second or so in anger.

It was something she had been working on, but she had a feeling being around Mugen would destroy all of the self control she might have gained over the past two years.

His reaction had confused her. Jin's had been what she expected. Embarrassment. Mugen's on the other hand had kind of crept her out. The whole bursting into laughter, and then stopping as quickly as he started was weird. The dark ominous cloud hanging over his head wasn't really helping either.

Jin looked over at Fuu and forced himself to smile. "Well congratulations Fuu. When is your wedding?"

He was happy for her though in the end. It was probably a good thing. Jin looked over at Mugen out of the corner of his eye carefully. The guy looked like he was about to kill something, more specifically someone.

Fuu smiled at Jin. Well at least he was trying to be nice about it. The forced smile and the subtle twitch of his eye gave him away though. "My wedding is in two weeks. Katsu is the son of the woman that I work for. Our wedding is going to be in the tea house that she owns. It won't be nearly as amazing as yours though. Her brother is the owner of the restaurant, which is why I am here. They needed a few extra workers. I think Katsu might have had something to do with it too though, probably thought I would like to see a wedding with ours so close now."

It was at this moment that Mugen decided to do something that he might later regret. Open his mouth and take out the abandoned feelings he was having on Fuu, in the form of an insult as usual. "To marry you this guy has to be fucked up in the head or he just can't get any from anybody else." Mugen's voice was lazy, as if he was bored, but the tone he used was classic Mugen. It was the voice that he used when taunting people.

Mugen didn't get the reaction that he was expecting though. The reaction he wanted was for Fuu to get all red and puffed up before screaming at him. Instead, he was greeted with warm sake pouring over his head, soaking into his hair and clothes.

The instant Mugen had spoken those words Fuu had reacted. She felt hurt, in so many ways. She knew she should have expected that kind of reaction from Mugen, but it still hurt. She had had a crush on him for a lot of their trip together, and by the end of it she supposed that she had even loved him. He had almost died for her, and the scars on his cheek were testament to that.

She had to be yelled at to get herself to leave him in that church. If she had stayed she could have been killed but she didn't care, she didn't want to see him hurt. And then she had cried over him when she found him half dead in the sand. She had nursed him back to health. And what did she get? He basically called her dirt. He said that no man would ever want to marry her unless there was something wrong with him.

So in order to keep herself from crying, because that is what she really wanted to do right now, she picked up the jug of sake in front of him and poured it over his head. His facial expression was priceless. He looked shocked. Like he had never expected sweet little Fuu to actually do anything about it. Well he was sure as hell wrong. He didn't even move other than to stare at her until she set the now empty jug back down on the table. His expression was enough for her.

Fuu turned back to Jin and bowed politely before standing up and walking out of the tea house and back into the full sized restaurant across the square, finally smirking as a string of curses floated out of the door behind her and into the open air.


	3. Do you love him?

A/n: Dont own it. Wish I did. Mugen and Fuu would have left together in the end if I did. Or they would have made a movie reuniting them and they would be together in it. Its that simple.

* * *

Mugen leaned against the wall of the tea house watching the ceremony take place. After that little unwanted sake bath Jin had forced him into a real bath. Mugen didn't get exactly why he had obeyed him, but he had. And of course he hated it. As always. Mugen supposed somewhere deep down he was happy for Jin. Jin had been the only person that he could actually call a friend, but he would never willingly admit it. You would have to have a knife up to his manhood before he would admit that, and even then it was still under discussion because Mugen could get himself out of just about anything. Hell, he had been shot and blown up within a five minute period. If he could survive that nothin' could stand in his way.

Mugen's eyes had been watching Fuu now for quite a while, though he wouldn't have admitted to that either. She was sitting apart from all the others, on a bench outside the restaurant. She hadn't been an actual guest so there wasn't room for her on the benches they had set up for the wedding. Of course Fuu had just smiled and been alright with it. As long as she got to see it happen. She was smiling softly, and she was crying. Mugen didn't get it. Why the hell would she cry over something like this? He yawned and rolled his eyes. She was probably thinkin' about how happy she would be when she married that stupid fiancé of hers.

Yeah, Mugen was still thinking about that. He couldn't get it out of his head. It bothered him. The idea of her getting married. The idea of her actually belonging to some guy. He rubbed his temples absently as the crowd cheered and the happy couple was embraced by the town's people. Ok he was seriously irritated by now. It looked like everyone here was happier than he was right now. Which really wasn't anything new, but it usually wasn't everyone. Or at least they weren't in one space at the same time where there was no possible escape from the fate of being utterly alone in miserable feelings.

He knew he shouldn't have said that stuff to her. He hadn't meant a word of it. He was just trying to shake off all of those feelings. Those utterly annoying feelings. The ones that said that if he were ever to get married it would be Fuu he would want to marry. But of course Mugen wasn't the marrying type so the chances of that happening would be a million to one. She would be an excellent mother. She had a child like personality that would fit quite well with other children. She was beautiful, though he hated to admit it. She was everything he could ask for really. That was only if he was going to get married though. And that was out of the question. Him, settle down? Yeah right. Not in a million years. Or at least until fifty years from now and he was really old. And the chances of him living that long were even slimmer than the chances of him getting married.

He shoved the thought of marriage out of his head. All of these happy couples and wedding vows were starting to get to his mental stability. He really wanted to smack that happy face off of one of those overly happy people's faces. Mugen slowly made his way over to the bench Fuu was sitting on, and plopped down next to her. He didn't miss the fact that she had stiffened as soon as he sat. On the inside he was growling at the fact that she would react to his presence in such a way but he forced it down. He had said a lot of crap to her already, and he wasn't willing to have to get another bath today. One was enough for him. He closed his eyes and took a slow breath, the frown that his face always carried slackened slightly but then abruptly grew sharper as he opened his mouth.

"Do you love the guy?"

It seemed to take Fuu a moment to realize what he was meaning but, when she did she only looked at him slowly, before her face contorted into a glare.

"What does it matter to you?"

"You gonna answer the question?" Mugen shot back, though not with the same sharpness his voice usually would have carried. Fuu didn't even notice the change.

"He will be a good husband." Was all she said in response, but that's all it took to answer Mugen's question.

"Then why are you marryin' him?" Mugen turned to face her at this point. Her face looked distracted, even pained. He hated it when she did that. He never knew what the hell to do in these sorts of situations.

"Everyone knows about how I traveled with you two. Everyone thinks that I'm dirty" her eyes seemed to wince slightly at the word. "He was the only man who would. He loves me, even with all of that. He believes me when no one else does. And the only person I've ever loved was and still is incapable of loving me, so I will take what I can get."

At this moment Jin and Shino appeared in front of them as they sat at the bench.

"Fuu?" Jin's voice yanked Fuu's attention away from Mugen, who was still trying to think up a response to her last statement. She only looked up at Jin with that face that said he had her full attention.

"I was hoping you would stay in the city a few more days, Shino and I can only be gone for three days for our honey moon but we were hoping you would stay until we got back and perhaps a day longer, Shino would like to get to know you." Both Mugen and Fuu looked at him with surprised expressions. Not because of the offer, but that was a surprisingly long statement from Jin. Shino broke the silence though.

"Yes Fuu! I have heard so much about you, I would like to get to know you on my own." Shino was practically beaming at Fuu. Who at this point could not deny the couple, and nodded a yes.

"Oh and Mugen you are welcome to stay as well. There are plenty of rooms at our home." Jin said, but the happy face he had given Fuu was not present, it was more of a 'If you break anything I will hurt you' look. Of course Mugen accepted. He could use it as a chance to irritate the hell out of the samurai, and Fuu. But he wasn't even going to turn down an offer for a free bed. He had been traveling for a while. A bed actually sounded nice at this point.

* * *

Fuu kicked off her sandals onto the porch of the doujo as the stars twinkled in the sky. Her feet were killing her from all the running back and forth. She hadn't ever imagined seeing that many people at Jin and Shino's wedding. She pulled the chop sticks from her hair letting the strands fall down over her shoulders. She had already been told which room was to be hers. Their house was huge, of course it was also a doujo so it probably should be but she really hadn't been expecting something like this.

Fuu made her way down the hall slowly, already pulling at her obi. No one was there yet and she wanted out of her clothes as soon as possible. They felt hot and sticky at this point. Moist with sweat, and smelling of fish and eel. She could see her door and slid the screen over before quickly shutting it behind her. The room was simple, tatami floors and such. Mostly black white and faded yellow in coloring. She shrugged her kimono off at this point and picked up the sleeping Yukata folded on her bed mat that lay in the corner. The simple white cotton fabric felt cool against her skin, air passing through the fibers with each breeze that was able to sneak through the window. She sighed softly.

It was irritating that Mugen had asked those questions of her earlier. What did he expect anyway? What did he care? The man knew nothing of what marriage entailed. Mugen wasn't the type to get married. He wasn't the type to even have a 'lady friend.' Mugen had one nighters. That was about it. Fuu rubbed her temples slowly in a circular pattern. Katsu would be the perfect husband, and that's what she needed right now. Someone that would be able to take care of her when she was sick. Someone who would go pick up the food for dinner. Someone to go to the market with. Someone to live with so she wasn't constantly jumping at the slightest sound outside her window. Love would come later, hopefully. Stability would be first. She could spend the time looking for someone to fall in love with.

Fuu flinched slightly. She had fallen in love once, and that hadn't turned out well. He hated her, he had made that clear to her from the day she met him to the day he left. She didn't even understand why she had fallen for him. He wasn't anything special, unless you counted his fighting skill, which were perfect. But the attitude that came along with them canceled out any good thought that she could muster up in her head. How many times had she watched him almost die? How many times did she feel like her heart was being ripped from her chest? How many times did she have to watch him go off with some nameless whore? She shook her head and sunk down, her back against the wall.

Her thought process was broken as she heard familiar footsteps enter the house, and the door to her room was slammed open. Mugen was glaring at her. She could tell by the look on his face he was going to yell at her about getting married. She had seen it in his eyes ever since Jin had interrupted them, and she had avoided him ever since. So she decided to get in her own thoughts before he could even open his mouth.

"Mugen, I don't give a damn about your opinion on this. I need a husband. I want someone who loves me. I want someone who can take care of me. I deserve that! I deserve to have someone who can go out and get the food for dinner after work!" at this she stood up and walked over to him. "I've had no one that has cared about my safety since Jin except Katsu! Two years Mugen! Let me have at least a little happiness at this point! Once I'm married I won't ever need the protection of some JERK like YOU!" Fuu shouted the last part. Quite loudly really. But she got the reaction she wanted.

His jaw had dropped open and then had closed sharply before glaring at her and walking out the door. He was gone and she wouldn't have to hear about how she was being stupid, or that she was a bitch. He was leaving her alone.

But in the end it didn't really feel right.

Fuu shifted uncomfortably before sliding the screen closed and lying down on the bed. She only tossed and turned in her sleep though, unable to get Mugen's face out of her mind. She couldn't help but feel sick, her stomach turning. Eventually she just sat in the center of the room staring out the open window at the stars. Had it been her imagination or had Mugen actually looked hurt when she said those things to him?

_____________________________________________

A/N: I would apreciate it if you would review. Thank you.


	4. One, Two, Three

A/N: Dont own.

* * *

Mugen growled angrily as he closed the door to his room behind him. Coincidently the room directly next to Fuu's. He growled again throwing his gi into a corner of the room sharply. How the hell did she know what to say to make it so he couldn't reply? Any sort of reply to that comment to defend himself would make him look like he cared for her, and any reply that wasn't in that category would make it so he never saw Fuu again. He probably should have taken the second route. That was what was better for the girl any way, but he didn't want to. He had already had enough crap from his mind the last time they separated. He wasn't about to do that again.

Mugen slammed back open his door and wandered off to find the hot spring that Jin had mentioned earlier. As much as he hated baths, hot water sounded good right about now. Even though he had already bathed once today.

He finally managed to find it, along with a stack of little towels and soap. A note was lying on top of the pile.

'Mugen remember to bathe while you're in my house.

-Jin'

Ha ha ha. Very funny fish face. Damn jerk had to go and leave a little reminder. You leave notes to your wife, not Mugen.

Mugen grabbed the thing and tore it up before tossing the remnants into the air. Much better. Mugen yanked off his hakama pants and pulled off his shirt before sliding into the water. Instantly he relaxed, but his mind began to wander onto what all Fuu had said to him.

*Flashback*

Mugen trudged into the house slowly, but once he realized Fuu was there his pace returned to normal, though maybe a little bit more aggressive to the flooring than the usual strut. He grabbed the door to her room and slammed the sliding door open, expecting to see a surprised Fuu. Nope. He got angry Fuu. In a second everything he was planning to say ran through his mind. Of course what he was going to ask, or at the least terrorize her about was why the hell was she marrying the guy if she didn't love him. So fucking what if no one in that town would other than him. Go to another one! Marry me instead!

His confusion at that last sentence that went through his mind gave her the opening to start snapping at him.

"Mugen, I don't give a damn about your opinion on this. I need a husband. I want someone who loves me. I want someone who can take care of me. I deserve that! I deserve to have someone who can go out and get the food for dinner after work!"

Then she stood up and started walking towards him like she was going to slap him, maybe hurl a shoe at him, which would be just like her. But that wasn't what he got.

"I've had no one that has cared about my safety since Jin except Katsu! Two years Mugen! Let me have at least a little happiness at this point! Once I'm married I won't ever need the protection of some JERK like YOU!"

Mugen felt his entire face go limp, jaw slack and everything. How could she say that? He had narrowed in on a couple key statements. The one that basically said that Jin was the only person worried about her safety during that stupid sunflower journey, and the one where she said after she got married she wouldn't need protection, she wouldn't need him. And the fact she had called him a 'jerk' (lame ass insult, he could come up with about forty better ones) told him that she didn't want him around.

He finally closed his mouth sharply with a snap that practically made his teeth vibrate and stomped off. What was he supposed to say to that?

*End Flashback*

Alrighty then.

One: He had cared a whole hell of a lot about her safety. He had practically died doing so. He still had the scars on his cheek and a couple on his torso from that stupid scythe. Oh and let's not forget the lovely bullet hole scar along with the others. He had _put down his sword_ for her. He never did that. Mugen had fought even though he was practically half dead as it was. He fucking _swam_ practically all the way to the damn island because that stupid boat tipping over. He didn't _have_ to do that. He didn't have to almost die for the girly but he did. He thought he _was_ dead for a few minutes there!

Two: Who the hell was she to say that she didn't need him around? How many times had she been kidnapped? How many times had some guy wanted to rape her or sell her or… well any of that crap!?! Too many times to count. She sure as hell needed him, even if she didn't want him. And he was not a jerk… Ok maybe he was, but he hated it when she called him that. It made him feel like he was insulting someone who wasn't old enough to retort back. And she sure as hell knew how to.

Three: Well he couldn't think of a three right now but it would probably come to him later.

Mugen grabbed the soap bar and dunked it into the water before grabbing a scrub brush near by the towels and taking out his aggression on his own skin. Rubbing his skin raw with the brush and the soap was making his frustration go away slowly. He did pause momentarily to smell the soap though. It wasn't Jin's. He was pretty sure it wasn't Shino's. And it sure wasn't Fuu's. She like that flowery stuff. This stuff smelled like cinnamon. Mugen raised his eyebrow. Fish face bought him soap. Funny gift bastard. Real funny. Mugen decided to ignore the fact fish face had bought him soap until he was out of the stupid bath.

Mugen held his breath and dunked his head under water before scrubbing out his scraggly hair, pulling at the strands in the process. By the time he got out of the bath his skin was a raw looking red. He shook off whatever water he could, similar in a way that a dog would, and then grabbed a towel to get rid of the rest. He proceeded to stretch slowly and then wrapped the towel around his waist before entering the hallway back to his room, clothes under his arm.

He didn't make it that far before he bumped into something standing in the dark hallway.

"Eep! Mugen? What are you doing?" of course it had to be Fuu. Just add on the fact that she was staring at him funny.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I can walk down the hall if I want to." He snapped angrily. She was the last person he wanted to run into right now. He had just taken his frustrations out on his skin, what did she have to go and make him want to hurt something again for? And to top it off she was still staring at him with that weird look on her face.

"What!?!" Mugen growled at her frustrated. "Spit it out!"

Mugen wasn't totally prepared for the blush that went across her cheeks.

"You smell good."

And then she was gone down the hall in the direction he had come from, closing the door to the bath behind her.


	5. Stew Head and Potato Face

A/N: Dont own.

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Fuu practically leapt into the hot spring in an attempt to shove down her embarrassment at her own comment. She had had her robe of in about two seconds. An all time record at this point. 'You smell good.' You smell good? What the hell was she thinking? Oh, well I think I'm just going to compliment the half naked Mugen in the hallway about the fact that his scent is wafting all over the hall and incredibly amazing. Yep. That was just about all she was thinking. Or not thinking in this case. If she had been thinking the mouth opening and the words coming out wouldn't have happened. Neither would the blush that had flooded her cheeks either.

"AAARG!!!!!" She couldn't help it she was so frustrated with herself. She shoved the folded washcloth into her mouth in order not to scream.

"STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" she growled at herself, though with the cloth in her mouth it came out more like 'stew head. Stew head. Stew head.'

Fuu shook her head. Look at her. Even without trying she could come up with new and lame insults. She could just see the next one. It would probably be something like 'Potato face.' Yeah she could see that. Her and Mugen in one of their grand fights from the past, he calls her a bitch and she responds by shouting potato face at him. Yep. Then Jin's eyebrow would twitch and she would know that she had reached a new level of idiocy. That was her. Amazing Comeback Fuu.

It was stupid really. How just looking at him in a towel had made her into a bumbling idiot. She had seen him naked once. Ok well she hadn't really seen. She had been hiding from him in her own nakedness and caught a glimpse. That had been enough for her really. Mugen's body was covered in long corded muscles. His skin was almost a golden brown. Kind of like the top of a bun after it had been taken out of the oven. She slouched slightly. Did she really have to compare his skin to food? She already compared everything else to food. The only other thing that popped up into her head as a comparison was warm tan sand, but she didn't want to picture Mugen and sand at the same time. She could already feel her chest constricting.

She flung the thoughts from her head by sliding her entire body beneath the hot water and then slowly raising her head above the surface. Of course she had removed the wash cloth from her mouth at this point.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall of the tub and attempted to drown her thoughts in memories and images of Katsu. Her sweet completely sane Katsu. A man who had never once insulted her in the almost two years that she had known him. She had been traveling with Mugen for what? A year in total maybe? And he managed to call her every name in the book. Well knowing Mugen he probably knew more but she had never heard that many different names come out of one human beings mouth for one person. Of course his favorite had been bitch but there had been many others. Plank and flat chested were just two that were close to the top. She wasn't going to even bother listing off all the others. It would probably just make her head hurt even more than it already was.

ARG!! And she was already off track. Katsu! Katsu! Katsu! Think about him!

She relaxed finally seeing that her mind would stay on her husband to be. She didn't love him, but he did have an amazing quality about him that made her giggle and blush in his presence. He was handsome. Very handsome. His skin was darker than hers, but he didn't look rough. His dark brown hair was long and straight. It was always pulled back into a pony tail, much like Jin's, but shorter. His hair was probably the same length as hers. His eyes are probably what had intrigued her the most when she first saw him. They were dark like the ocean but had flecks of silver in them. It was like a picture of the ocean in his eyes. Raging waters with white sea foam streaked across it.

When he had introduced himself he had kissed her hand like a gentleman. She had been blushing the entire time. Months down the road he had showed up at her doorstep with flowers and had asked her if she would go to a festival with him. That's how things had started. He had taken her out and they had danced for hours. She couldn't remember a time when a man had danced with her like that. He had kissed her goodnight and bowed a farewell. She didn't sleep that night she was so excited.

Those first few months she had thought she was in love with him. He was perfect. Why shouldn't she be in love with him? He loved her. She knew that. No man would treat her like that for over a year and then ask her to marry him if they didn't love her. He was willing to put up with her for the rest of his life. That was more than any man she had ever met had given her.

But she kept on hearing about pirate ships and a wandering samurai. She kept on asking questions, and then the wandering samurai had disappeared from all gossiping travelers. For some reason that hadn't bothered her half as much as when the pirate ship stories had stopped rolling in. In the back of her mind she knew that these stories might not be about either of them. But she could still hope couldn't she? Yes she could. She just didn't have to tell Katsu about it.

It was probably a month after the stories stopped that Katsu had proposed. She said yes. Not a second after the words had left her mouth was she up in the air spinning around in Katsu's arms. It was something that she couldn't understand. She was so happy but at the same time she could feel a part of her in her chest crumpling up.

And then she saw them again. Both of them. What kind of crap was that? That wasn't supposed to happen. It was fate or destiny or something stupid like that. But at the same time it couldn't be because if it was fate or destiny than she would have seen them months ago, before Katsu had proposed. Or at least seen one of them…

She grabbed the scrub brush and her soap bar that she had brought and lifted them to suds up the bristles. But she stopped as the familiar scent that had filled the hallway before greeted her senses. Tears slid down her cheeks slowly before she brushed them off and filled the bristles with her own soap destroying the scent from before and filling the air with cherry blossoms. She scrubbed her skin slowly. Removing all the dirt she could from the day. The dirt and the sweat. She had become so dead in her actions that she didn't even realize when she was done and half heartedly climbed out of the bath.

She dried her skin quickly and wrapped the white robe around her body, her hair soaking the cloth around her shoulders making the ivory skin their visible beneath the foggy white. Fuu didn't really understand why she had fallen for Mugen so long ago it wasn't normal. He wasn't the nice guy who was sweet to you and held your hand. Mugen would sooner cut your hand off than hold it.

With a dejected sigh Fuu left the hot spring sliding open the door and closing it slowly behind her before making her way down the hall.

And right into Mugen, who hadn't moved since she left him.

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Please Review. I now have the story line set up in my head. Thats why it took so long for me to update. I didnt know where I wanted this to go and I didnt want to post untill I knew for sure. Just a warning though cuz now I do know: This might be twenty chapters or more. Please give me feedback and such. Im willing to give hints at the plot line to reviewers who want them. Not anything to big though. Just info that you can look forward to.


	6. You Can Kill Me Now

Sorry this took forever. I apologize.

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Mugen blushed. _Blushed _when he hit the floor, Fuu sprawled out on top of him. Now to get things straight, he was not, definitely not blushing because he could see right down that horrible excuse for a robe at Fuu's porcelain breasts. No he had seen plenty of boobs in his time. His face was red in the embarrassment of not only standing in the same exact place she had left him a good thirty minutes ago but at the added humiliation of being knocked over by a girl who probably weighed less than a hundred twenty pounds.

"What the fuck?" he mumbled to himself, pressing his fists into his temples before shoving Fuu off of him and on to the wooden floor. _The world just wants to screw with me tonight doesn't it?_

The word screw gave him some images he probably shouldn't have had in his head as he was now standing over Fuu, who was looking like a helpless little doe. He had to hold back a groan as he noticed her legs were almost completely visible from the way the robe had opened at the bottom. He forced himself to look at the ceiling as he yanked her up off the floor. Not very gently either.

Fuu was just staring at him with this confused look on her face. It was really bugging him that she wasn't talking. She always talked all the fucking time. What was wrong with her now? He knew seeing him in a towel wasn't doing that because she had seen him in one before. His eyes scanned her face for a second taking inventory of her swollen red eyes. So she had been crying while she was bathing. He put that in the back of his head as the shoulder of the robe slipped off her shoulder. This girl wanted to kill him didn't she?

Mugen yanked the tie of the robe off of her and held the scrap of cloth together on her body. Fuu had stiffened visibly at this point, her eyes looked scared, and something else he didn't really want to look that hard into at the moment. He pulled the robe tightly around her body, not caring at this point if it was too tight for her to breath or something of the sort and then tied the sash back in place as tight as he could. He muttered constantly about "damn robes" and "fucking wet white cloth."

_I'm turning into Jin._ That was the only thing that was running through his mind as he looked at her. The scared look on her face had dissolved into one of confusion. _Yeah well I'm confused too girly._ He was the type that ripped clothes off of girls, he didn't make sure they stayed covered. That would be Jin's area. The whole honorable samurai thing. He finally decided to go back to the whole swollen red eyes thing.

"Why were ya cryin'?" He asked sharply which she actually flinched at. He had known her long enough to understand it wasn't one of fear but one of surprise. Kind of like the little jumps she would give when he had actually said something remotely nice on their journey. Few and far between but still somewhat there.

"I was just thinking." She whispered. He actually had to crane his head to hear her words.

"Bout what?" he asked looking her right in the eye. They both know he wouldn't hurt her, but it was his way of saying that she wasn't getting past him until he knew.

Fuu turned her head away from him hiding her eyes and took a breath and mumbling something. He didn't catch it.

"What?" he asked bending a little at the waist to get closer to the sound.

She mumbled again and once again he couldn't catch it.

"What the fuck were you thinkin' about?" Mugen growled at this point frustrated more than he knew he should have been but this was getting on his last nerve.

"WHERE WERE YOU!?!?" Fuu shouted at him her eyes locked onto his glaring at him.

It was definitely his turn to be confused. Where was he like now in the hall? Where was he before he came back to Jin's house? Where was he for the past two years? Where was he when she was being kidnapped by that guy with the crazy scythe? There were a whole heck of a lot of ways that question of hers could be taken.

Her face was now bright red in embarrassment. "Where were you all this time? What happened to you? I had thought you were in on the ocean, or in prison, or dead…" She wouldn't even look at him at this point.

Mugen took a step back from her and rested his hand on the back of his neck. "I guess a bit of all of those." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling again. It was fast becoming his new best friend. "For a while I had my own ship and crew. Started that about a month after we all sep'rated. Did that until about four months ago. Maybe less than that. Some group of Shogunate got us while we were in some town. Don't even know what it was called. There were too many of them. So me and my crew ended up in prison for a bit." He paused for a bit.

She still wasn't looking at him, but he could tell from the way her eyes were moving and scrunching up she was paying attention.

"We busted out of that place, but a whole bunch of us got real sick. These red bumps and fevers. Some people were coughin' up blood. None of us really knew what to do 'bout it. Four of us survived. Fever broke and all that. But the other sixteen didn't make it. Kinda ironic that we were runnin' from the noose and found in another form." He tilted his head a bit and sighed. "We decided to go our ways at that point. None of us really wanted to try for another crew. Considered it an omen or somthin'. That was probably a good two months ago. I basically travelled after that. Wanderin'. Then about a week ago I heard about a weddin' and decided to show up. Hadn't eaten a decent meal since losin' the ship."

He ended his little informative speech by tilting his head and looking at Fuu. He knew in the back of his head this was probably the longest time he had just talked himself in a good while. At least two years.

Fuu wasn't looking at him. She was breathing raggedly almost as if she was going to cry. Mugen definitely didn't know what was going on.

"The stories about the pirate ships stopped coming in four months ago." She whispered.

"Yeah. That was us. You heard about us?" he smirked. He took a lot of pride in being a legend.

But she didn't answer his question.

"I thought you were dead." She was shaking at this point. Horribly. Okay he understood why she might be upset about him dying, but he wasn't dead. He was standing right there in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her a bit. That's when the tears streamed down her face.

"I said yes three months ago." Mugen didn't understand why that would matter. What would it matter when she agreed to marry the guy?

That's when it clicked. She thought he was dead. And she said yes after she thought he was dead. _Because_ she thought he was dead. He stumbled backwards. He couldn't believe it. Was she serious? The tears streaming down her face were definitely telling him that she was. Shit.

He couldn't even stop himself at this point. He didn't even have to think about it as he lifted her chin up and placed his lips on hers. She was stiff for only a second before he felt her arms wrap around his neck and he could feel slender fingers tangling in his hair. Her entire body had melted into his. He didn't know exactly how it happened and neither did he care but their tongues were twining around each other. When he heard her moan he could barely control himself. He was losing it. He didn't make a habit of kissing whores. He didn't really want his mouth were someone else's dick could have been. Any kiss he had been given didn't even remotely compare to this.

He had her pressed up against the wall and he only just registered that the towel had fallen from around his waist and her robe was hanging around her waist because of that too tight sash. Whimpers from Fuu and his own groans filled the hallway. Eventually they had to pull back for air.

She was pink. All over. Even her breasts were tinged pink. Her eyes were slowly clearing as she looked at him, and both of their breathing slowed.

She started pulling her robe back into place and she was concentrating hard on his face. He stared at her confused.

"I'm getting married." She whispered.

Mugen groaned and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist.

"Leave him." He snapped sharply. He didn't mean for it to come out like that but he was hard as hell and he had obviously just made it very clear that his feelings for her were very very far from just their weird friendship.

"Mugen," she touched his face and it was his turn to hide his eyes from her. When had Fuu become this? "You can't stay in the same old place." Her voice sounded like she was being stabbed.

He knew that that wasn't what she meant. He knew that she would travel with him. She would always be safe with him. She was saying that he wasn't one to commit to anything or anyone. _To her_. And he wasn't. He had never committed to anything in his entire life except maybe improving his fighting skills. He had said it himself. He wasn't the marrying type.

He lowered his head and gave her a chaste kiss, something that was utterly foreign to him, and then walked down the hall and closed the screen behind him. His eyes landed on a vase that looked like it was worth something. In an instant he had it smashing against the wall.

_I broke something Jin. You can kill me now._

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AN: I already have the next chapter typed up. When I get to 26 reviews I will put it up.


	7. The Princess and The Thief

Ok ok ok. Give me a day here! Its up. Hope you like it. Its a little divided in half though. But Ive always thought of Fuu as someone who wants a family. She always seems to be searching for one of some sort. She searches for her father. It is very obvious she loved her mother. And Mugen and Jin become this twisted sort of family for her. She seems like she would be really good with kids because she has this child like sparkle. Oh well. You can just read about it.

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Fuu opened her eyes slowly. She had the most massive head ache she had ever had in her entire existence. But the stress that had swamped her mind the night before had a tendency to do that sort of thing now didn't it?

The sun had probably been up for a few hours now. It was beating down into the room through the window and some happy little bird was chirping away. Now Fuu wasn't normally a violent person but all she wanted to do at the moment was find that stupid little bird and strangle it until it couldn't sing anymore. Maybe even figure out how to make the thing explode. No more singing. No more false sense of happy mornings.

She rolled back over on to her side and pulled the blanket up over her head to block out the sun. Really whose sick idea was it for that big blazing ball of light to rise up and force her eyes open? Darkness was so much easier. You couldn't see the problems in the dark, and for the most part of it you slept through them.

Mugen had as good as said he wanted her, cared about her even. It was just a little too late.

This in itself was ironic. Usually Mugen was just in time. Right there. Right before the bad thing happened. Right before she was raped, right before she was killed, right before anything she wouldn't have been able to cope with happened. She had been molested, but in the end she coped with that, she had been thrown into brothels. It was something you had to do or you wouldn't keep living.

But he was late this time. She was getting married. Married! This wasn't something you just dropped out of. And you definitely didn't drop out of it because of Mugen. It didn't matter than she cared about him more than anything on this planet. It didn't matter that she didn't love Katsu. What she needed now in her life was stability. A family would be really nice too. Mugen didn't fit into that picture. Stability wasn't achieved by traveling all over the world, and Mugen didn't really seem to fit into the whole "family" category.

The last reason that she couldn't leave Katsu for Mugen was probably the most heartbreaking of them all for her. Mugen got bored easily. Too easily for comfort. He would eventually end up throwing her to the side. Mugen probably wasn't capable of being with only one woman. He probably had to have at least five different women a month just to function. Why was he like that? Why did he have to act like that?

Fuu pulled the pillow over her head as well now. If only to be able to muffle her screams of frustration. She could get over this. She could do it. She accepted her mother's death, and then her father's. She could accept the fact that she would never be able to have Mugen.

It seemed so silly to her that she would want him and love him so much only to pull away from him when he reviled that he felt the same way. But then on the other hand it didn't seem that much of a surprise to her. She could deal with him not caring about her. She couldn't deal with him loving her and then rejecting her after he used her up. She would be a filthy rag covered in dirt flung in the ditch for a new brand new silk kimono. That's what Mugen did after all. Took and took and took until he was sick of it and then he moved on to the next brothel.

Fuu shuddered at the latest thought that came to mind. Perhaps he would keep her with him, and then he would sleep with other women behind her back. She knew this happened often in these times but she didn't know how well she would be able to handle such a relationship. To have him go to another woman, lay in her bed and then come back to her in the dark of the night smelling like cheap perfume. No, she wouldn't be able to survive such a thing.

She also had a very very good idea about the fact that Mugen didn't actually care about her at all. He hadn't shown any of this sort of behavior back when they were traveling. Was it her new figure that had him wanting her? That thought also made her want to throw up. But it was plausible.

She let loose one final scream into her pillow and then set it back down before pulling the blanket off of her. It had to be at least ten right now. She would have been serving meals back at her own village right now, maybe cleaning a table. That life was simple, but it was her life. She liked it. She was never running for her life, she hadn't been thrown over anyone's shoulder or tied up at any one point during her stay. She was safe. She was happy. So what if she had missed those two. She had been doing fine for the past three months before she saw them.

Maybe she could just pretend that she had never seen them in the first place. That she had never seen Mugen at all. That would be the best thing for her, it really would. But that just wasn't how life worked. It just wasn't.

Fuu felt like fate was just playing a sick game on her.

Fuu stood and grabbed one of her kimono's, one of the same style that she had worn when she arrived. It was light green with pink designs on it. She had always been told that the outfit brought out the light shades of red that were in her hair and the pink reviled the natural blush of her cheeks. She had always felt that she could make herself feel better by looking better. It didn't always work, but it was always worth a shot.

Within seconds she had her hair up in a comb and she was walking out of her room. She planned on spending her day out by the river that she had seen on the edge of town. When the carriage had driven into the city she had seen it and all of the little families at the water's edge. Little kids had been playing with one another there. It would be the perfect distraction.

Fuu made her way down the hall as fast as she could in order to avoid Mugen, and then out the door. She thought it was odd how she was greeted by almost every person she passed. She supposed it had become common knowledge that she was a friend of Jin. It only took her about fifteen minutes to make her way down to the river.

It was shallow. More like a creek than anything else, but it was perfect for splashing around in if you were under the age of ten. There were multiple families there. Husbands and wives with their children soaking up what little romance was left from the wedding ceremony. This town was fairly laid back from what she could tell but it still prospered. It was obviously because everyone there helped each other out. She had never seen such a thing in all of her travels. It must have been why Jin chose to settle down there.

Fuu was pulled out of her thoughts when there was a small tug on her kimono and she looked down to see a little boy. He had to be three at the most. Not much more than that. Still a little wobbly on his feet with big brown eyes. Obviously precocious. His mother rushed over and apologized but Fuu just smiled and picked the boy up and played a game of "I spy" with him. He wasn't very helpful because he said that he saw something that was green, and when you are out doors just about everything is considered green. She still played with him though. The kid was cute after all.

After an hour or so just playing various games with the kid that seemed to grow into kids. About three of them now. Their mothers were thankful for the time that they were getting alone with their husbands, even if it was for such a little time.

A small girl leaned over to her and asked her to tell them a story. Fuu smiled. She had so many stories to tell.

"One day there was a princess and she was just minding her own business in the woods one day when I evil man came and attacked her."

The youngest of the three gasped and Fuu smiled slightly.

"But she was saved by a thief before anything bad could happen to her. He killed the evil man and saved the princess from certain doom. But then the prince showed up! And he couldn't be outdone by a thief! It was his job to save the princess! So the two fought each other even though the princess tried to get them to stop."

All three leaned forward slowly intent on the story. She continued this. With Mugen as the thief and Jin as the Prince. She of course was the princess. It was her story minus all the really bad parts. She had never realized how long the story really was. Whenever she thought about it seemed so much faster, but telling the whole story at once! It had to have been two hours long, and that was without the creepy zombie people!

She came closer to the end and tilted her head.

"And then the Prince married his peasant girl that he fell in love with. And the Princess married the soldier even though she loved the thief, because she couldn't hold on to someone who slips around in the shadows."

She sighed softly and looked down at her fingers.

"And both of the couples had many children and grandchildren until their family was spread all over the place, and the story of their lives faded away into legend."

The little kids clapped except for the girl who had fallen asleep in her lap at least fifteen minutes ago. She stroked her head slowly.

"What happened to the thief?" asked a voice from behind her.

She knew his voice anywhere. "The princess always remembered him, but the thief only thought of her for a little while, if at all. Thief's interests are passing and swift."

Mugen looked down at the children around her, he seemed to understand something when he looked at the girl in her lap.

"The princess wanted to settle down. Have a family. She didn't think she could do that with the thief did she?" Mugen asked slowly, deliberately.

"She _knew_ she couldn't."


	8. Who went after you?

Sorry this took a while.

Dont own the anime. Dont make money off these stories.

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Mugen just nodded. He didn't really know what to say. He personally had never thought about having a family. He hadn't ever expected to live long enough to have a family. He hadn't ever expected to have a wife. Hell, he never expected to have a house! It frustrated him. Here she was. This girl. The only girl he had cared about as more than a fuck. She even cared about him back! And he couldn't have her. She was getting _married_. Even in his mind the word was distasteful. Like it left a weird taste in his mouth even though he hadn't even spoken it.

He shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably, which for some reason seemed to be the cue for the kids surrounding Fuu to get up and return to their parents. Even the little girl got up. He hadn't really seen her face before but he took a step back when he saw her. Looked almost like a little Fuu. He fought the urge to stop the little girl from leaving but he was able to shove it down.

When the kids were far enough away from hearing their conversation Mugen sat down next to Fuu. She wasn't looking at him. That didn't really surprise him though. She tended to avoid these kinds of things. That hadn't changed since the last time he was with her.

"Fuu, I aint gonna lie and say that I'm the marryin' kind of guy. I never thought much 'bout the idea. Never expected to live long enough fer that sort of thing. Never thought I would find someone to put up with me." Mugen sighed and scratched the back of his head. It was starting to become a nervous habit.

She still wasn't looking at him.

"That don't mean that I aint willing to try the whole settling down thing."

Mugen almost growled at himself for that sentence. If he hadn't been arguing with himself about it almost all of last night he probably never would have thought about saying any of that. Sure the whole family thing hadn't really been put in perspective until about a few minutes ago but he wasn't a complete idiot on all matters to do with female emotions. The last words that she had said to him the night before made him think. Sure he got a massive headache from all of the constant mental arguments going on in his skull but he did think about it.

Sure he would never be able to totally settle down. A house in this sort of town he couldn't handle. He wasn't Jin. A house on the ocean, by a city with docks he could deal with. He could catch spare jobs on ships and actually make money for sailing all over the place. Sure it was a little more honest than the whole pirate idea of just going and bustin' up the other ship and stealing their stuff, but it was something that he could handle.

He could sail for a day or so at a time on a fishing ship, bring back food and money. Hell he could smirk happily while he did it. It was something he did a whole hell of a lot better than Jin. Who wouldn't be happy about that? The fish face couldn't even catch a fish.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Fuu's voice.

"And how long would that last Mugen?"

Mugen held back the urge to growl at her instead of himself this time.

"Alright girly, let's get one thing really really clear because almost a year of traveling with you didn't seem to get it through your head. Who saved you from getting your finger chopped off? Who went after you when the crazy guy with the one arm kidnapped you? Who went back for you at the brothel? Who went for you when that artist tried to sell you off? And there were so many more instances that I can't even count before the big one where I had to swim all the way to a fucking island, kill a guy without my sword, take a bullet, and get blown up for you." Mugen was growing frustrated.

It wasn't until he started listing them off that he noticed that Jin really hadn't played a big picture in the whole body guard thing. It really had been just him and Fuu. Jin was just there as back up if things got too bad. It seemed so stupid. When had he gotten soft? Probably right when he saved her from getting her fingers chopped off and then accidently torched the place, thus inadvertently ensuring that he wouldn't get his payment of dumplings.

"I've almost died three times." He muttered loud enough for her to hear. "and you were there patching me back up every time. After the ship, the blind chick, and that shitty island. Nobody ever did that fer me."

Mugen decided that he might as well spit everything out that he wanted to say now that he had her attention. He had had it since he started listing incidents off and he planned to keep it till he was done. Even if he was forfeiting his man card for a few minutes.

"Ya know Jin told me how you reacted after the ship thing." He turned to see her blushing and hiding her eyes from him. "And you put yourself in front of a blade for me. And I heard myself how you reacted on the beach."

In a very non Mugen moment… well to hell with it he wasn't being himself at all today, he might as well screw the rest, he ran a hand down her face brushing loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"You didn't cry like that over Jin. Ever." He had come to that realization last night. That he couldn't actually remember her crying specifically over Jin, other than her little moment when Shino first came into the picture and that night before she had left them. Jin had also filled him in on that conversation though when they had been lying half dead and wrapped up in the old shack on the island.

Mugen couldn't forget that conversation.

**flash back**

"Why the fuck did you send me after her anyway?"

"She wanted you."

"What do you mean she wanted me? She seemed pretty cozy with you last night."

Jin had just glared at him for a minute with the look that said 'if I had my sword I would stab you with it right now.' But then he answered. "I asked her what she planned to do when this was all done. She didn't want to talk about it. She couldn't say it properly. She was already crying, but she didn't want to talk about it because that meant you were leaving. She was apologizing to me for caring about you more than she did me."

Mugen just looked at him for a minute. He had the overwhelming want to say "Yeah right." But he kept it in.

"If that was true why didn't she tell me instead of you?" Mugen remembered snapping out, and then regretting it because of the amount of oxygen he used to push the words out, jarring his rib cage.

"What would you have done had she been crying into your arms?"

That had just about ended that conversation.

**end flash back**

For the longest time he hadn't believed a word of that conversation. Actually he hadn't believed it until last night when he was pressed up against Fuu. But it all of a sudden made a whole lot of sense when it hadn't before. Maybe it would have made sense earlier if he had actually taken the time to think it out. But Fuu wasn't being taken from him at that point. He was willingly letting her go. Sure he realized that was just plain stupid few months later but it was still a different concept.

Mugen snapped his head over to stare at Fuu when she started giggling. _What the fuck is going on here? Is she supposed to be doing that?_ Mugen was having a hard time wrapping his head around the whole thing.

"Jin didn't really do much to save me did he?" Fuu asked. "I mean he killed my father's killer, and then he kept me from jumping in the ocean and drowning when I wanted to get you, but…"

She had trailed off and she was still giggling. The giggling broke though as a sob escaped from her lips though and Mugen just sat there in shock.

_What do I do? What do I do? Hell. Crap. Shit. No wait! What would Jin do?_

Mugen wrapped an arm around Fuu's shoulder slowly. He didn't really know how to do this kind of thing. Hugging, cuddling, comforting. He kinda sucked at it. Sexual touchy feely stuff he was great at. Emotional crisis fixes he had no knowledge off. But Fuu was leaning into him and her face was pressed to his chest so he had to be doing something right. Right? Yeah. He was doing it right.

Her sobs died down as he ran his hand up and down her spine. She was still a small girl. His hands almost spanned her back at certain points.

"I love you." Fuu's voice had been soft but for him he felt like he had heard it a lot louder.

_Wait. What?_ Mugen's hands instantly stopped moving. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Sure he had gotten the picture but it was really different to have someone just come out and say it. And for some unknown reason he knew what to do.

He pulled her into his lap and wrapped both arms around her, holding her as close to him as he possibly could. The only comparison one could make was to a small child and its teddy bear. He wasn't letting go. She was his, and he wasn't ever going to let anyone take her away. He wasn't ready to say it. He knew that Fuu knew that too. But he could express it though his actions.

* * *

Alrighty, at 45 reviews I will put up the next chapter. I already got it typed up and all that jazz.

Hope you liked it.


	9. If you don't, I will

Fuu picked at her food slowly. Her and Mugen had walked back to the restaurant after she was able to put herself back together. It had taken perhaps a bit longer than she had really wanted it to. She had kind of hoped that she would be able to have better control of her emotions after these two long years. When you age you gain maturity right? That was what was supposed to happen. And the more mature you were the less you burst into tears like a small child. Right? She didn't like the fact that she had already been brought to tears, or almost brought to tears quite a few times since she had arrived at this town.

What more could one expect with all the stress she was going to have to deal with now? If having the man of your dreams (who really shouldn't be the man of your dreams) thrown back into your life, conveniently two weeks before her marriage to a wealthy, kind, well known man wasn't stressful she didn't know what was.

Ok…. Well maybe she had been in some more dire situations. Like being tied up to that cross, but her mind wasn't really focused on the stress levels. That only lasted a few minutes, or she had only been conscious a few minutes. She had a feeling this situation was going to be bothering her quite a bit longer than a few minutes, it would probably be bothering her up until her wedding day.

Mugen was sitting next to her, scarfing down his food like a mad man. Same old Mugen. Well not everything was the same anymore now was it? She couldn't help but stare at him as he ate though. She was curious if that was how she used to look back when they were traveling and she would stuff her face with as much food as they could afford, while they could afford it.

She really hoped not, but she had a bad feeling that perhaps she did. It took him a moment but Mugen finally looked up from his bowl long enough to notice that she was watching him eat rather than digging in to the identical bowl in front of her.

Mugen was staring up at her questioningly. Yes staring up. He had brought his head closer to the table in order to shorten the distance between the bowl and his mouth. Well shoot him if he wasn't behaving with perfect manners. He never had them to begin with and he was still freaking hungry even though he had had a good meal the day before. Hey, going without a decent meal for four months did something to you. He always ate fast anyway. The faster you ate the shorter amount of time someone had to take the food away from you. That was just how he had been brought up. He wasn't about to change that now. Fuu knew what she had been getting in the first place.

Not to mention it wasn't too hideously long ago that she would cram her mouth with food in the same manner. He wondered for a second if he would ever be able to afford to fill her stomach all the way and then, as the calculating those numbers made his head hurt, stopped.

"If ya don't eat that on your own, I'm gonna shove it in your pretty mouth by force. Can't have ya turnin' into a skeleton on me now." He joked, poking her in the ribs with his chop sticks.

Perhaps him making fun of her would distract her. Whenever she replied back in the good old days she would always have a sparkle in her eye. Not necessarily a happy one, but it was one that told him she was alive and kicking. Not distracted and wanting. He watched that sparkle return to her eyes and she smiled.

"Pretty mouth?" Fuu smirked at him slowly. "So it is pretty now? I remember you calling my mouth all sorts of things, pretty was never one of them. Big, fat, loud. But never pretty." Fuu continued to smirk. She had caught him. He rarely gave out compliments, and this one was probably purely an accident.

With his reaction she knew she was right, he blanched and almost blushed. She could just barely see it in his tanned skin. Not anything anyone else would be able to notice, but just barely there. She was going to have to work on making that a little more visible.

Mugen, in an attempt to change the subject spat out the first thing on his mind.

"So…. What are you gonna tell this guy you were gonna get hitched to?" He watched her eyes grow wide and a little frightened. It was obvious the girl had no clue.

And she didn't. Fuu didn't know what to say to Katsu, there was still a portion of her that was still weary of leaving Katsu for Mugen, knowing Mugen's past relations with women. She didn't know if she would ever be able to forget about all that. It had gotten them into trouble more than once after all.

"I don't know… how does somebody do that? I mean we're _engaged_ Mugen. It is not like I can just break up with him and walk away." She sighed

"Well you're not just gonna wait for your wedding day are you?"

"Um…"

"Fuck! Fuu!"

"I know, I know. I just don't know how to do this sort of thing." Fuu almost whimpered. Katsu was a really nice guy. She didn't want to hurt him.

"Well you're gonna have to. If you don't I will" Mugen threatened.

"What is that supposed to mean? Mugen! Don't you dare hurt him! He is a nice guy!" Fuu was honestly worried. Nothing came between Mugen and what he claimed as his. And she was finally letting it sink in that Mugen really did want her.

"Cool it, I won't hurt him unless I have to. Unless you make me."

"What do you mean if I make you?" Fuu hissed at him, trying not to draw too much attention to them at the restaurant.

"If you don't say anything then I've gotta make things clear that you are not gonna marry that guy. Cuz you're not. Are you?"


End file.
